STORRS — NCAA rules dictate that the UConn women's basketball team could have started practicing this week, but the Huskies won't officially begin organized, team-wide preparations for defense of their eighth national championship in Storrs until Oct. 18.

Don't think for a second, however, that the Huskies will be falling behind their peers.

Four key members of the UConn team — seniors Bria Hartley and Stefanie Dolson, junior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and sophomore Breanna Stewart — will probably get more out the next few days than the majority of college players in this country will get out of two extra weeks of practice.

The Huskies' foursome is among the 28 players who accepted invitations to take part in a USA Basketball National Team mini-camp being held to help determine the rosters for the FIBA 2014 World Championships and the 2016 Olympics.

The mini-camp, being held Friday-Sunday in Las Vegas, will be comprised primarily of WNBA players.

"I think seven college players are going, and four of them are here so it is pretty cool we can all experience it together," Hartley said. "We're just really excited to go there and kind of see where we're at playing with those guys, some guys we kind of idolized growing up.''

Mosqueda-Lewis is probably the leading candidate for national player of the year honors this season, and she's experienced plenty of USA Basketball success at lower levels, so this invite seems like a natural progression for her.

"It is still an awe inspiring moment," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "You make those other teams and you are like, 'Oh yeah, it is cool. I made it.' But now it is like, 'Oh my gosh, this is the real deal. This is with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi and all of them.' You are like, 'I can't believe I am going to get a chance to play on the same court as them. So it is really cool for all of us."

Stewart will be the youngest player at the mini-camp, but she said she is more excited than intimidated heading into this first big step in the process of picking the next Olympic team — even if some of the players are 8-10 years older than her.

"It tells me that things are going in the right direction," Stewart said. "I think there are still things that need to be done, but I am honored to be able to come to this camp, and I am going to go out there and hopefully play well."

The competition at camp will include five players who have won multiple Olympic gold medals in Diana Taurasi, Tamika Catchings and Sue Bird with three each and Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker with two apiece.

"I am looking at it as another challenge," Stewart said. "I am not going to say that the list isn't intimidating. When I was reading it, it is kind of like intimidating but exciting at the same time, because I am fortunate enough to be in the situation to play with them and have practices with them this weekend. I am going to go and try to hold my own."

The four current UConn players said it helps them immensely that they are going to the mini-camp together.

"It definitely makes you feel more comfortable," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "It is a little nerve-racking for all of us, but exciting at the same time. And to know that we have all our teammates here going with us it is definitely going to make things a lot easier. "

Hartley said guarding players like Diana Taurasi can only help her in the long run.

"If she makes a good move, I can go, 'Oh, I lost Diana,'" Hartley said. "It's not like that hasn't happened to anyone else before. Then we can run down court together and I can tell her, 'Good move.' She'll probably think, 'What's this kid talking about?'"

Dolson said that if you told her four years ago that she's be at a pre-Olympic camp at this stage in her career, she would have thought you were crazy. The hard work she's put in the last few years within such an elite program with outstanding coaching, competitive teammates and high expectations has validated that she belongs.

"I am definitely super excited to get the opportunity to go there and try out for this team," Dolson said. "To compare myself to these women who have been in the WNBA and in the Olympics and kind of see where I stand, I wouldn't say I am intimidated. I don't think you can go into something like this intimidated otherwise I would play like I am scared. So I am going in to play my game and not worry about what happens. I just want to make sure I leave an impression."

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